The Disaster Risk Management Division (DRMD), in collaboration with the European Union (EU) Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) Risk Mitigation Centres of Excellence (CoE), France Expertise, and the Government of Kenya, is currently hosting the National Biological Risk Assessment and Scenario Development workshop for biological experts. The workshop is being held from Monday, 25th November 2024, to Friday, 29th November 2024, at the Savoy Seychelles Resort and Spa.
This workshop has been organized as part of CBRN Project 99, titled “Strengthening Biosafety and Biosecurity Capabilities in East and Central Africa (BIOCAP-ECA),” which aims to improve methods for detecting and mitigating risks associated with biological materials or agents.
During the opening ceremony, Ms. Vanesia Dodin, the National Focal Point for CBRN, delivered a speech emphasizing that the key objective of the workshop is to “reduce or eliminate exposure to potentially infectious or hazardous agents or other biological hazards for the community, environment, personnel, and others.”
The DRMD and its international partners aim to achieve this objective by utilizing the National Biological Risk Assessment (NBRA) tool. This tool will be used by key stakeholders involved in responding to biological hazards (human, animal, environmental) in Seychelles and Kenya.
By the end of the workshop, participants are expected to be able to effectively use the NBRA tool to identify potential emerging biological threats and risks on short- and medium-term scales. They will also be able to pinpoint key areas that would benefit from national biological risk assessment scenarios and design reasonable worst-case biological threat CBRN scenarios.
Representing DRMD from the Disaster Risk Mitigation Unit are Ms. Vanesia Dodin, Senior Risk Management Officer; Mr. Simon Dugasse, Risk Management Officer; and Mr. Miguel Malbrook, Risk Management Technician.
